About Mele & Co.Emidio Mele & Co., an Italian immigrant to the United States, came to New York City in 1896 and learned to make jewelry boxes as an apprentice before founding Mele & Co. Manufacturing in 1912. He began by designing and building elegant displays for jewelry store windows. His jewelry box-making business grew throughout the 1900s, responding to demands for boxes to hold Purple Hearts during WWII and developing as a popular household name for quality jewelry boxes. Today Mele & Co. Jewelry Box is known as the Mele & Co. Companies, which encompass various divisions under the Mele & Co. name. Now based in Utica, N.Y., Mele & Co. still upholds the family atmosphere on which it was founded and remains America's foremost name in jewelry cases.